Antique Player Piano Rolls

The piano was among the last instruments to be automated. For one, the motion of a hammer striking a string is harder to animate than forcing an organ-pipe valve open and sending air through bellows. Secondly, the sound of a piano depends on both how hard you hit a key and how long you hold it.
Strange and elaborate devices to play automated music have been built since ancient times. Cylinders or barrels with protruding pegs or pins were...Continue Reading